Reminisce
by Jack the Dragon
Summary: When Sonic runs off on Amy once again after avoiding her advances she contemplates ever finding love. However fate has other ideas and leads her into the arms of a certain black hedgehog who shares more in common with her then either expected. (My first Sonic the Hedgehog fanfic.)


**Finally finished this. My first Sonic the Hedgehog fanfic. ****I decided to redo this as it was rushed as I did want to get this done before last christmas so I hope you enjoy this newer version. I will also be posting a Knuxouge one as well, hopefully. I want it known that while I do like Shadamy, I am keeping an open mind about other couples. Don't like this, don't read it.**

**NOTE: This story is non-canon to my upcoming Sonic story "Burning Hope".**

* * *

_"Bye Ames, gotta run!"_

Those had been the last words he had said to her before taking off in a small cloud of dust. She had watched him go, her jade green eyes following the blue streak until it was out of sight. Amy sighed sadly. This nearly always happened, she would chase after him fawning over how they would end up being together, he would stop and make up some painfully obvious excuse that he had to be somewhere else to be when in reality, he was trying to get away from her.

Sighing again, she turned and began to walk along the street. Her mind filling with a thousand thoughts all at once.

Why did she even chase him anyway? It was probably because she was too stubborn to accept the fact that he only saw her as a friend, nothing more. She had learned the hard way that Sonic only felt friendship for her several times and it made her mad. Not at the blue hedgehog, but rather herself.

She was mad at the fact that she continued to chase him with the vague hope that he would return her feelings, and the only reason she couldn't find anybody else was because she had no intention of pestering others about problems with her love life.

It wasn't the fact that there weren't other males, it was the fact that none of them seemed, "right" to her. Other boys she knew were either younger or older than her or had girlfriends of their own.

Tails was nice, but it was clear he had feelings for Cream and she did likewise. Knuckles was also good natured, but it didn't take a genius to figure out the fact that he had fallen for Rouge. The white bat obviously had that certain "effect" on the red echidna, even though he denied it on a daily basis.

Vector had an obvious crush on Cream's mother Vanilla, Espio was just a bit too much on the serious side and Charmy was still a kid. Silver might have been a possibility, if it weren't for the fact that he liked Blaze a lot and she liked him as well. In other words she had little to no options left open to her.

She walked on her mind still racing as she reached the end of the houses and entered the forest.

The pink hedgehog often came here when she was upset, or wanted to be alone and at the present moment she was both of those things. Being among nature gave her a feeling that even though she felt like she was alone in the world, she wasn't. Every tree, leaf and flower seemed to hum with it's own energy.

She found herself walking along a path she had gone on many times before and a small smile came onto her face as she thought of all the times she had had with her friends. Both good and dark. Tails, Knuckles, Cream, Shadow, Rouge, Sonic, Silver, Blaze, Vector, Espio and Charmy, they had all stood by each other through the darkest of times.

Especially Shadow.

For some reason the name of the black, red streaked hedgehog, seemed to stick in her mind. True he wasn't the most social person she knew, he still felt his responsibilities deeply no matter what and despite his cold, outward appearence and attitude, underneath, he had a kind and caring side.

Speaking of which, for reasons unknown to everybody, Shadow had become more and more reclusive. He was known for keeping to himself true, but this was strange even for him. Even Sonic was starting to get concerned, which had been surprising for everybody considering the rivalry between the two.

Amy frowned in thought as she wondered where he could have gone. There weren't that many places, well places _she_ knew, he could go and a chaos wielding, black anthropomorphic hedgehog with red streaks on his quills and arms, wearing gloves, inhibitor rings and air shoes wasn't the kind of thing you saw everyday.

Well unless you lived on Mobius of course, as then the sight of anthropomorphic animals was a common everyday sight which humans were used to.

A voice broke her out of her thoughts. "Where are thoust going fair maiden? Is thy heart not full of cheer?" she looked up to see a female fox standing before her. She was tall and slender, had red hair and a white muzzle, and a deep lilac eye. Her hair was long, thick and a bit spiked in which she had a yellow bow. She wore a black belly top, black fingerless gloves, a grey buckled-belt, and black skinny pants that had grey padded shoes attached to them, and an eyepatch over her left eye.

Amy smiled happily. She recognised this vixen. "Hello Filipa, what're you doing out here?" she asked "No missons," Filipa simply replied. "We've got the day off, so I figured I'd see how everyone's doing. Including you." The pink hedgehog giggled "I'm fine Filipa," she answered.

"You sure? You didn't seem to happy a few moments ago?" said Filipa a questioning look in her eye. Amy did her best to keep up her cheerful facade but it didn't work "Sonic . . . ran off on me again," she replied quietly, lowering her head expecting a simple "Figures," in response but instead a hand moved under her chin and raised her head up to where sad jade green eyes met a kind, deep lilac purple one.

"Amy, there's nothing to be ashamed about and you know it," Filipa said kindly. "It's Sonic's choice to run off and leave you and no one else's." She went on, "And there are others to direct your compassion too, which is your strong point," the female fox stated. "You help keep everyone together; through dark times, and more."

The pink hedgehog thought for a moment. She knew the vixen was right. Out of all her friends, aside from Cream, she was the most energetic, especially when it came to boosting moral. The number of times she had helped to strengthen their resolve was nothing to sneeze at.

She smiled once more. "Thanks Filipa, I think I needed that," Amy said and said fox smiled. "Nothing at all. Now if you don't mind I'll get going, see you later Amy," and with that Filipa waved goodbye and vanished into the bushes on the other side of the clearing.

"Bye Filipa!" Amy called out before turning around and continuing on. She passed a small stream and listened to the quiet gurgling sound it made, like bells made of ice. Some distance away, reaching her ears, and, if anywhere, in front of her, she became aware of a deeper sound.

It was the sound of water crashing against rock. The sound of the sea. It was an uncanny instinct of hers, she had discovered, that she always went to a spot that had water when she was upset.

Eventually she arrived at the edge of the trees where a short strip of grass ran to the lip of the cliff, and she could hear the roar of the waves below it. Amy's smile grew a little as she settled down at the foot of a tree nearby as the sun began it's slow descent towards the horizon.

Watching the sky turn from blue, to hues of gold, pink, orange, red and purple always brought a smile to her face as she thought about happy days in the past. She had often tried to persuade Sonic to watch it with her, but that had only worked out in her head, not in real life.

A soft, sad sigh escaped her lips as thoughts of the blue speedster came back into her head. His bright green eyes, cocky smile, cobalt blue fur and trademark thumbs up. Amy just couldn't understand why she kept chasing him.

Now that she thought about it, he had, on a few occasions, come close to losing his temper. Would the next time be when he did? She knew she had to get over him but, it was hard to do and being alone was one of, if not, her greatest fear. She became absolutely certain on one thing; there wouldn't be a 'next time'.

Amy continued to watch the sunset and felt her eyelids grow heavy. But just as she felt like dozing off a slight rustling noise disturbed her. Her ears twitched and her eyes opened wide as she looked around, trying to find the source of the noise. She called out, "Sonic, is that you?" No reply came. Then the sound came again louder this time and she suddenly realised that it was coming from above her!

Instinct took over and she felt her hammer appear in her hand. Her fingers clamped around it in a firm grip as she raised it, poised to strike. "Whoever you are, I'm not afraid of you!" but she spoke with a confidence she didn't feel.

Then the leaves rustled again, a few floated down, and a shape suddenly slid down the tree to the ground before standing upright in front of her. "Shadow?" she slowly lowered her hammer and it eventually disappeared for it was indeed the dark hedgehog standing before her. How long he had been there she did not know, though it probably didn't matter.

"Rose," he said in his normal dull tone. "What are you doing here?" she asked, curiosity winning over fear. "I could ask you the same thing," he replied. For some reason, Amy felt very nervous and not just because it was the fact that Shadow was standing in front of her and talking to her. Deciding that it would be best to explain herself she replied. "Just thinking."

He raised an eyebrow clearly unimpressed with the repsonse she had given him. "Faker ran away from you again, didn't he," he said dryly. Amy said nothing as she looked down at the ground, not meeting his gaze.

Shadow snorted in contempt at this, "I thought as much." Amy couldn't contain herself any longer. "I don't need you to tell me that!" she snapped glaring daggers back at him. Red eyes simply rolled at this, "What makes you think that faker would ever love you?" he asked sarcastically. "He always runs from you. And the only time he ever does pay attention to you is when you're either hurt, in danger or captured and even then he's more focused on fighting the enemy," Shadow stated without relent, not noticing that Amy had shut her eyes and was clenching her teeth together.

The black hedgehog went on, clearly not knowing the weight of the blast that was being built up inside her. Folding his arms he spoke again. "Name one time he's ever said anything that contributes to your appearence, or even returned your feelings, or wanted to spend time with you. Tell me Rose."

That, unfortunately, was the breaking point for the poor pink hedgehog. All the sorrow, anger and other things that had built up inside her, forcing themselves up and up, refusing to be beaten, broke like dam wall. "I KNOW THAT!" she screamed vehemently, causing Shadow's sensitive ears to ring with the force it created, himself suddenly realising he had been practically right next to the source of the explosion.

It lasted for only a few seconds before Amy fell on her knees and tears started to fall in full force. The only thing she could force out was, "And you're right, he only cares for me as a friend." She fully expected Shadow to simply leave her there and then in her own misery or mock her. It was what she deserved anyway.

What happened next however, was something she absolutely didn't expect.

She felt a gloved hand gently lift her head up to where her tear stained eyes meet ruby red ones which now held a comforting look. He had kneeled down in front of her and was holding her cheek with his left hand.

Then to her even greater shock, he slowly drew her to him so she could rest her head against his chest. A warmth spread through her and she nestled greatfully into his patch of white chest fur.

Shadow started to slowly stroke her back in a comforting gesture. His voice reached her ears, only now it had lost all trace of its previous hardness, "It's alright, it's good to unburden. It's the first step towards happiness."

This time Amy couldn't hold back the tears and started to cry even harder then before. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "You're right, and I'm sick and tired of it!" Her body started to rack with the force of her sobs but this only made the black hedgehog hold her tighter. "I'm alone! Alone! Alone! And that scares me."

Amy slowly stopped herself from crying and drew back so she could face Shadow properly. He gave a comforting smile, something that she thought she would never see on him. "It's alright Rose. I've been alone most of my life. I know what it feels like," he replied. As they continued to stare at each other, the pink hedgehog felt a warmth spread to her face and her cheeks flushed slightly red. The other was no different, for a faint tint of red could be seen on his own muzzle.

Slowly he drew back and leaned against the tree, patting the ground beside him for her to join him. She did so, and found herself leaning her head on his shoulder, watching the sun as slowly slipped to stand half hidden by the horizon. It was like the dream she had had multiple times before, only know the hedgehog beside her was midnight black and crimson red instead of just cobalt blue.

Then a thought struck her. "Shadow?" "Yes Rose," "What were you doing here when I arrived?" Amy knew she was taking a risky step asking this question, but couldn't get it out of her head. She still hadn't wrapped her head around the fact that only a few moments before he had hugged her.

Shadow the Hedgehog, who was regarded as a lone wolf by pretty much anybody and everybody, had hugged and comforted her. It sounded like a dream. A very, very unrealistic dream but a pleasant one none the less.

His reply was, "Same as you, thinking," "About what?" Amy knew she was starting to walk on a thin line asking that question but it had to be said. Shadow closed his eyes before speaking one single, solitary word. "Maria." "Oh."

The pair sat in silence for a while before Amy spoke, "What was she like?" Shadow's eyes opened and for a split second the pink hedgehog was instantly afraid that she had gone too far. But instead she was met with a sigh, "Maria was like a sister to me," the black male replied. "Even with her disease her spirit was the strongest of any person. I was the only friend she had on the ARK and we did everything together. She told me all about life and how precious it was, and what it meant. She always talked about the earth and how she would like to go down and see it for herself."

"In fact she was a lot like you," he finished casting a sideways glance at the pink hedgehog beside him. Amy smiled. "She sounded like a great person Shadow, I would've loved to met her" she gave him a small smile to which he returned. "Yes, I think she would have liked to meet you too." After that the two hedgehogs sat in silence for a while.

Amy was amazed at how Shadow had opened up to her about the single most important person in his life. She was seeing a side of him that was rarely seen and she knew it. She watched his black fur turn gold from the receding light, and the red streaks on his quills, arms and legs turn a dark crimson. His eyes seemed to glow with a light of their own, and she found herself getting lost in them.

Wanting to be closer than they were at that very moment, wanting to feel him and... but she stopped. What was she thinking? Did she really want to jeopardize what they had right now? Just because they were enjoying a rare relaxing evening together with no outside interference? But she couldn't push these thoughts away, and relapsing into them, she closed her eyes and smiled broadly.

As the silence dragged on, the midnight hedgehog's mind was struggling with itself. Up until that moment, Shadow had thought of exactly what he was going to say to Amy, carefully rehearsing it, brooding over it even. Now, with the rose right next to him, those words had been lost in a corona of thought. He started speaking, the words coming from his lips with almost no direction at all.

"You have to believe me Rose. I know what kind of darkness your mind is in right now. Trust me I've been there too, Skor as well, but we've both proven that even though it's hard to see, there is always light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how dark it may seem. I know I may not be the most sociable of our friends but I won't stand by while one of them is eating their heart out. Sonic is a fool. He just doesn't know when to see what's under his nose." Amy looked at him curiously.

"What do you mean?" Shadow gazed at her for a moment. "I see a pretty pink hedgehog with a strong spirit, the courage to follow her friends wherever they go and the bravery to match." Amy's face went scarlet and Shadow's was no different. They looked at each other, their eyes locked. Slowly their faces began to move in closer to one another, the space between them closing and...

"Well, you two seem pretty chummy," said a voice which made them jump and fall back. They looked round to see a tyrian purple echidna with scarlet red eyes and a white crescent shaped patch of fur on his chest walking towards them. His shoes were the same as the ones Knuckles wore but these were free speech blue, dark brown, and grey instead of red, yellow and green. Beside him, was a vixen Amy knew only too well.

"Sledge? Filipa? What are you two doing here?" Amy asked her eyes widening. Shadow's, on the other hand, narrowed. "More to the point, how long have you been there," he demanded. "Long enough," was the simply reply. Echidna and fox walked forward and sat down near the two hedgehogs. "As to why we're here," Sledge went on, gesturing to Filipa. "This honey-natured vixen was kind enough to follow you to make sure you didn't do anything drastic after her pep talk."

Filipa nodded. Amy frowned for a moment in annoyance but her brow cleared and she gave a small smile. "Well, I honestly guess I can't blame you for wanting to look after my welfare," she said. But following me..." her voice trailed away. She didn't need to finish the sentence. "I understand," the female fox replied. "I'd probably feel the same way." Both Shadow and Sledge raised eyebrows at her. "Well a little more I suppose," she added scratching the back of her head in embaressment.

The next few minutes passed all to quickly for the four beneath the tree. Sledge and Filipa stuck around until just after the sun went down, the two pairs exchanging both long and small talks and plans for the days, weeks, even months ahead. Shadow himself appeared to have loosened up quite a bit, his mouth twisting into a form it was only rarely used to being in, a smile. He had never truly appreciated how good it felt until now. _Maybe that's why Maria did it so much..._

But soon enough, all the excitement of the day had taken it's toll on the newly comforted flower. As the stars began to appear in the sky in greater numbers, her eyelids began to weigh down once again, once more into a natural slumber.

"I guess it is getting kinda late," the echidna said, stifling his own yawn. "We should probably head back too. Right Filipa?"

Filipa never heard the question, her own gaze shut and head resting on her shoulder, snoring softly. Sledge chuckled, and scooped the fox up into his arms. "See what you have to look forward to? Is the "Ultimate Lifeform" ready to be a pack mule?" Shadow chuckled. "If that is one of the duties I'm to saddled with, so be it."

The echidna nodded. "Glad we got that straight. Catch you later." He paused, then a wicked grin appeared on his face. "_Shads_." "I've told you to not call me that!" Shadow yelled back to the soldier as he vanished into the trees, laughing, leaving the two hedgehogs in peace.

"Shads? What a cute nickname," Amy commented, her patent smile taking root in it's normal place on her lips. _Oh great... Well she was bound to pick up on it sometime _he thought, and chuckled. "I guess someone thought I needed to be more... approachable." Rose laughed and squeezed his hand, the same grip that had never left his hand since he first entangled with it.

"I think I've said more today than I have since we first met, remember?" She chuckled reminiscing of adventures past, "Of course I do. Way back when Prison Island was still around. I still can't believe I mistook you for..." The conversation practically derailed right there, at the mention of _his_ name. It wasn't intentional, to be sure. But still, a lot of animosity was stirring in the air.

"Yeah, right. Well, now that you can keep us straight and separate, that won't happen again." Shadow tried to continue the talk. Amy suddenly had a different thought. "Shadow?" "Yes?" "Why did you comfort me?" she asked. The ebony hedgehog was stunned by the question. Wasn't it already obvious why he had comforted this delicate flower in her time of need? _Maybe she really doesn't understand yet... well here it goes._ "Because it wasn't right."

As expected her eyebrows furrowed in thought, not quite understanding. "Wasn't right?" "It wasn't right for that faker to run off on you again. Not to mention leave you in the state you were in to get our attention. And it certainly wasn't right for you to feel so much pain and rejection. Trust me, I know it's not easy, but there can be light at the end of every tunnel. Skor knows it to."

That confirmed to her that this was definitely not the cold-hearted loner she remembered. It was like he had came about in a complete 360. Even as her own tired mind tried desperately to fathom what he was saying while not succumbing to slumber quite just yet, Amy had to know. "So... all those things you said to me earlier, about seeing me again and how much I meant to you..."

Shadow smiled again, "I meant every single word," he replied. Amy's eyes widened and her hands covered her mouth as she let out a silent gasp. This was quickly replaced with a smile.

Suddenly a cold breeze made Amy shiver, and she instinctively moved closer to Shadow, who enveloped her in his arms for warmth. He reached into his quills and pulled out the green Chaos Emerald he always carried with him. "I think it's time we were leaving before you get too cold," he said, and Amy nodded in agreement.

As he prepared to teleport them both away he looked at her and said, "Would you like to try?" The pink hedgehog was taken completely off guard by the question and looked very surprised. "Y-you mean that?" she asked nervousness clear in her voice. He smiled encouragingly and guided her right hand to the emerald. As her hand closed about it and his own she felt a surge of energy flow through her and she looked at him for words.

The black hedgehog could see the doubt in her eyes, this would be her first time doing such a move and she needed all the help she could get. "Relax. Let you mind go blank then fill it with where you want to go, the emerald will do the rest." These words echoed in her ears as she allowed her mind to empty. The emerald started to glow green as it hummed and pulsated with energy.

Shadow felt it and saw Amy open her eyes to see it too. She looked at him and he nodded and she closed her eyes once more as the two classic words came from her lips; "Chaos Control!" The pair vanished in a flash of light leaving only a few sparkles of light where they had been standing.

A few seconds later Amy opened her eyes. To her surprise and amazment they were both back in the city and standing in front of her house which had been the location she had been thinking of in the first place. Shadow was also looking at it and he smiled at her "Impressive Rose, very few people get Chaos Control right first time. You seem to be a natural at it." Amy blushed and scratched the back of her head in embaressment.

The stars were now fully in the sky as they walked up the few steps to her front door. They paused as Amy reached down to get her house key from under her door mat before putting it in the lock. She paused with her hand on the knob and looked at Shadow. "Oh, and Shadow," "Yes Rose?" She smiled.

"Call me, Amy."

"Of course. Amy."

With that settled she turned the handle and pushed the door open and they both entered before she closed it behind him and then wrapped her arms around his neck in a warm hug. As he put his arms around her waist he was quiet sure he heard a small voice whisper, "Well done Shadow. I'm so proud of you." He didn't need to think twice about whose voice it was. Maria.

As he looked at Amy he realised that maybe, just maybe. He hadn't lost all trace of the person he had cared for the most. He wasn't going to fail the promise he had made centuries ago again. It was definitely a welcome sensation, to be entrusted with such a feeling and duty of protection and guidance one more. _I will protect you Amy. I won't let what happened to her happen to you, not while I still draw breath. No one will hurt you again. Of this, I promise you._

The pair separated with Amy going into the kitchin whilst Shadow went into the living room. It was comfortable, with a front window looking out into the street with a seat below it. There was a fireplace with a mantelpiece on which several pictures were set. To his surprise he saw that they were mostly of all their friends from adventures past instead of just being ones of Sonic.

In the centre of the mantel piece was a large frame containing a picture of all of their friends and Skor and his team. Shadow picked it up and gazed at it fondly. He knew the photo. It had been taken a few days after the Core Inferno Crisis. Whilst it had been, and would be, one of the darkest times in Mobius history several goods things had come out of it. For one, it had brought Knuckles and Rouge together as well as Silver and Blaze, though the latter had yet to confess their feelings for each other.

The Ultimate Lifeform turned as Amy came in with two mugs of cocoa and set them on the table in the middle of the room. She walked over to him and gently took the picture and looked at it. "It's nice isn't it," she said, smiling. "We learned a lot during that time thanks to Skor." Shadow nodded in agreement. Over the course of their quest to stop Dr Andrak, the Mobian Heroes had gained much stronger bonds then they had before. Whilst it was mainly due to Skor's persistance at getting certain skeletons out of the closet, some had come out naturally at their own accord. Amy place the picture back on the mantel piece before the two settled down on the couch.

The two hedgehogs once more sat in silence for a short while, until Amy broke the silence, "Shadow?" "Hmm?" "I've been wanting to ask you this for a while but, I've only just gained the courage to say and, with what happened earlier, I wanted to ask, why have you been keeping away from everyone?" Shadow stared, raising an eyebrow at her. "What are you talking about?" "It's just, over the last few days you've been, more reclusive than before, and everyone's starting to get worried about you. Even Sonic if you can believe it."

Again Shadow stared at her in disbelief, "Sonic, worried about me?" he asked incredulously. "I know," she replied, "the rest of us found it hard to believe when he told us such." At this Shadow chuckled. "Who would have thought that Sonic the Hedgehog, Fastest Thing Alive and the Hero of Mobius would miss racing me," he said, grinning. "Considering you're one of the only ones who can match his speed, it's hardly surprising" replied Amy.

Shadow nodded in agreement before going into thought about the sakura hedgehog's question. It was difficult to answer, chiefly because the main reason he had been keeping away from her and everyone else was because of Amy herself. Whenever he saw her he felt, something inside his chest that he had never felt before.

Whenever something happened to him, or occured outside his control, he naturally put distance between himself and others until he could work out the problem fully. That however had only made things worse and eventually, he had decided to just tackle the problem head on and speak to Amy. Which had been his plan, until he seen what had happened earlier that afternoon in the city with Skor.

* * *

FLASHBACK

Shadow was standing at the top of one of the buildings looking out over the city. It had been quiet at G.U.N that day and Commander Abraham Towers had given him the day off along with Rouge and Team Strike. Rouge had instantly flown off to chaos knows where, though the black hedgehog figured a certain red echidna on a floating island with a large emerald had something to do with it.

His mind then drifted to another matter, or rather person. Amy. For a long time the pink female hedgehog had been constantly at the back of his mind. True she had mistaken him for Sonic at first, but she had convinced him to help save the world on Space Colony ARK. He could easily remember the words he had spoke to her; "I have to go now! I need to keep my promise to Maria... and you."

A small smile spread across his face at that memory. It was one he treasured along with a few others. Having Skor as a friend was also one of them. The kimberley purple, watercourse green striped hedgehog understood how he felt, as he had seen his own family killed in front of his eyes. Another fact was that Skor had been infused with some of Shadow's DNA which granted the purple hedgehog his chaos powers.

This had also brought up the fact that Skor had the suprising feature to communicate with Shadow telepathically, and the dark hedgehog could just as easily talk back. Shadow could easily remember when they first met; when he had been assigned to a solo mission to Dr Eggman's fortess, unaware that Skor had been given the same misson. Skor had saved him and together they had defeated the doctor before fleeing the exploding base. Because of that, they were often put on missions together, which suited them perfectly well.

Suddenly he felt a familair presence on his mind. He knew what this meant. His thoughts were confirmed when a well known voice spoke from behind him. "You're getting sharper Shadow, well done." Turning, he saw a hedgehog who looked exactly like him, apart from the colour of his fur, stripes, muzzle, shoes, cuffs and rings, standing behind him.

Shadow smiled as he walked forward to stand beside him. Skor looked out over the various houses before saying, "I wouldn't have guessed that Towers would give us a day off." "Agreed," said Shadow. "By the way, you've been acting off lately. What's wrong?" Skor asked and the dark hedgehog mentally groaned. He should have expected that question to be asked.

"It's, difficult," he replied deciding that a response was nessecary "Is it? Or does it have something to do with a certain pink hedgehog called Amy Rose" said Skor and Shadow stared at him. "How did yo-" he began, but Skor cut in. "I can read your thoughts, remember," he said plainly and the black hedgehog groaned once more, only aloud this time. "Of course you can," he muttered to himself.

He felt a gloved hand on his shoulder and he looked into the kind eyes of the purple hedgehog. "It's nothing to be ashamed of Shadow, you and I both know that," said Skor. Shadow sighed. "I just, don't know if I can tell her," he said looking down at his shoes.

Skor glanced down too and something below in the street caught his eye. "Sooner than you think," he said which caused Shadow to look at him. "What do you mean?" he asked. Silently, Skor pointed a finger straight down and following it the dark hedgehog's eyes widened. For directly below them on the sidewalk, was the very female they had been talking about. She wasn't alone, a familiar blue hedgehog could also be seen. Sonic.

At the sight of Amy, Shadow felt his heart begin to beat faster and his cheeks turned slightly pink. Skor noticed this and gave a small smirk, "Difficult eh?" he asked smugly. Ruby red eyes simply rolled in annoyance as their owner angled his ears to catch the conversation happening in the street below them.__  
__

The conversation ran as both pretty much expected. Even Skor knew about Amy chasing after Sonic, but he, unlike the others, was able to understand the reasons why. They watched as Amy tried to get her point across but as expected, it was to no avail. Sonic shot off, leaving a small cloud of dust behind while Amy simply stood where she was.

Skor eyes followed Sonic until he was out of sight before turning back to Shadow. He was in time to notice the black hedgehog close his eyes before muttering the two fateful words, "Chaos Control," before disappearing in a flash of light. The purple hedgehog thought for a moment before an idea formed into his head. Holding out his right hand a flash of energy revealed a small communicator in his hand.

Typing out a number he put it to his ear and waited until a familiar voice was heard. "Skor, was is it? Something come up?" "I think you could say that," he replied. "But listen Filipa, there's something I need you to do so listen closely," "Alright, what do you need me to do?" "Wel,l" ventured Skor as he watched Amy turn and start to walk away. "Remember that theory I had about "you know what"," "Yes," was the vague reply. "Well it seems to have come to fruitation. Now this is what I want you to do..."

END FLASHBACK

* * *

Shadow could tell Amy was waiting for his answer but he still wasn't sure how to go about it. Finally he sighed and spoke, "I know what the cause is but, I'm not sure how to tell you..." He trailed off not wanting to finish. Amy looked at him. "You can tell me if you want to Shadow. I'll listen."

Her smile reassured him. "Well, over the course of the time we've met. I've... been thinking," he said hesitantly. "Oh?" "I've... been thinking about," he paused and took a deep breath. This was the point of no return. "About?" Amy ventured, leaning slightly forward. "About you. Rather a lot," he said his cheeks starting to turn pink, then red which also caused her to blush as well.

He sat up so he could look her straight in the eyes "I think that I like you" he added. His muzzle was now scarlet a colour which was mirrored on the pink hedgehogs' cheeks as well. "Really?" her voice became much higher pitched now, going into a squeak. Shadow turned his head away "I'm sorry but it's just... I shouldn't have said anything," he stood up and made ready to leave.

"I wasn't thinking, but you remind me of Maria with your attitude and you're always so caring to everyone, to me, about who I am and what I have to say and-" "Shadow!" Her voice broke him out of his thoughts, as she rose and one of her hands gently took hold of his arm. He felt her gloved thumb glide slowly though the fur on his arm in small circles, in a comforting gesture. "I think, I like you too," she said smiling her cheeks now completly red. Ruby red eyes stared at her in disbelief "Y-you do?"

She nodded and he felt his muscles relax as relief washed over him in a wave. Her voice once again cut into his thoughts. "I've always admired how you never give up. No matter what. Even when all hope seems lost" A smile now graced the ebony hedgehog's muzzle. His voice reached her ears with; "Thank you, Rose," which made her tingle with excitment.

Amy suddenly looked sheepish, "So what does mean for us now?" she asked. Shadow's smile broadened slightly, his eyes half closed, "I can think of one thing" he said quietly, the smile never leaving his face. Slowly her hands travelled up his arms to his shoulders while his moved slowly to her face to cup her cheeks as her heart began to beat faster. They both gazed at each other. Ruby red orbs meet jade green ones. In hers, he saw love, passion, and a never ending cheerfulness, while she saw in his courage, loyalty and, beneath all of that, a deep sorrow.

Their faces slowly got closer, and closer together, their eyes slowly closing. Their lips were centimeters apart. Then they met. In her mind Amy had long pictured doing this with Sonic but now she felt a strange, yet comforting warmth spread through her. Suddenly it didn't matter that he wasn't blue, and that his eyes were ruby red, not green. His lips felt soft and warm against hers.

Shadow was also in a happy state of mind. He could feel his heart beating faster while a strange warmth was coursing through his body putting him in a state he had never been in before. Never before had he felt this feeling. Maria had told him about love but he had never fully understood it. Maybe that was because to understand love you had to_ love_ someone to do it. She had also told him that more often then not true love came from the one person you least expected. Amy Rose was certainly the last person he had expected and he was probably the same for her considering she had been crushing on Sonic for years now ever since they had first met.

Gently, he moved her head sideways to deepen the kiss and heard a slight moan come from her as he did so. It was a connection Amy had only dreamed of.

A romantic kiss from her true love, only this time, his heart was splashed with loyalty and courage rather than cockiness and recklessness. For Shadow, it was the ultimate proof of support that he could give. Even if he didn't understand all the mechanics of the emotion called love, he could still register that Amy was strong in body and soul. She needed someone to guide her and support her through the phase of becoming even stronger in her own way.

Time seemed to have stopped. Slowly, and yet it seemed to soon, they pulled away and gazed into each others eyes their cheeks even redder than before. Shadow's arms drew Amy too him and she nuzzled in to his the snow coloured patch of fur on his chest while he stroked her short pink quills. Suddenly as she continued nuzzling him, a slight purr left his throat and he stopped suddenly his eyes wide.

Amy heard it too and drew back, her eyes also going wide in surprise at the sound. "Was that me?" he asked while the pink hedgehog just smiled and nodded giggling. The black hedgehog, feeling his ears tingle with the sound of her voice filled with such innocence, found himself smiling as well before drawing her back into the embrace.

The pair stayed like that for a while before Amy raised her head to look in Shadow's eyes. She smiled at him and he smiled back. Then she asked, "Shadow?" "Yes Rose?" he replied. "I-I think, that I..." she raised herself up to put her mouth next to his ear. His mounting curiousity was answered when her voice, barely a whisper, spoke to him.

"I love you."

Hearing those words, Shadow felt the strange warmth from before come back to him. Only this time he knew what it was. He slowly brought Amy to face him and smiled. "I love you too, Rose." Hearing those words made her heart soar with joy and she hugged him tightly burying her face into his shoulder.

That thought was still circulating in his mind when the pink hedgehog drew back to look at him. Her face had taken on a worrying expression. He frowned "What's wrong?" he asked "What's Sonic going to do when he finds out?" she asked. "I already know Ames, don't worry." The voice of the hedgehog they had been talking about, coming from close to them, made them jump and look round to see both Skor and Sonic standing in front of them behind the couch.

The former was smiling kindly, while the latter was looking down at his shoes, trying to look neutral but clearly not wanting to meet the gaze of either of the new couple. "How long have you been there?" Shadow asked glaring at them, which clearly told them that whatever the reason they were there for had better be important. "Long enough", said Skor before pulling out the red Chaos Emerald from his quills. "We'll let ourselves out if you don't mind. But before we do. Sonic has something he would like to say to each of you."

Amy's gaze moved to Sonic as the blue hedgehog moved towards them and she stepped forward to meet him. He looked down at his shoes again. and sighed. "I have no excuse for constantly running off on you all time," he confessed, looking up at her, "but for what it's worth Amy, I'd like to apologise. It's my fault and nobody elses, I see that my now," he closed his eyes. "I know you wanted to be with me, and it's my own attitude that kept me from seeing it. But, I understand if you don't want to be friends anymore."

The silence that followed this sentence was deafening. For a while Amy didn't move. Then, Sonic felt a pair of arms wrap around him and he raised his eyes to see that Amy was hugging him. He smiled and returned it, while Skor and and Shadow looked on with smiles on their own. Amy drew back from the cobalt speedster still smiling.

"You were my first proper friend Sonic. You helped me through the loss of my parents and always let me come on your adventures," she said happily. "And no one can replace that." Sonic smiled himself and hugged her once more before he walked over next to Skor who readied the Chaos Emerald in preparation to teleport them out.

Sonic stopped and turned to look at Shadow and held out his hand, "Take care of her alright Shadow," he said. The black hedgehog looked at the outstretched hand, his normal frown in place. Then he smiled and clasped it firmly with his own. "With my life," he replied, the determination in his voice clear. With that said and done, the blue hedgehog walked over next to Skor as Amy moved back to Shadow's side.

The kimberly purple hedgehog smiled at them before speaking. "By the way, we won't tell anyone until you want us to, right Sonic?" he said, looking at the blue speedster. "You bet. Amy's happy and, that's all I really want her to be." Amy smiled happily at this, as did Shadow. If there was one thing that had changed about Sonic, it was the fact that he was a lot more honest than before and when he did upset someone, knowingly or not, he was quick to apologise.

As one, the newly formed couple smiled together, which was surprising considering Shadow wasn't one to do so. "Thanks you two," said Amy. "Good," said Skor, with an air of finality, and the emerald started to glow. "We'll be off then. Ready Sonic?" "You bet," was the cheerful reply, and he too placed a hand on the glowing red gem. "Chaos Control!" a flash of light erupted in the room and the two vanished leaving only a few sparkles.

Just then a thought struck the pink hedgehog, "Shadow, I thought you didn't care what people said about you?" she said looking at him with questioning eyes "I didn't," he answered casually. "But that was when I didn't have Skor as a friend. Or you to care for" he added turning to face her once again.

Amy could only smile, "Well, I suppose that counts for something," she replied. Shadow drew her to him once more smiling and kissing her forehead. Both of them felt perfect. They had both suffered from the loss of loved ones but had come out of that sorrow stronger and better then ever. True there had been obstructions in their way but they had overcome them time and again.

Then his voice came to her quietly but loud enough for her to hear. "I love you, Amy Rose." She smiled. "I love you too, Shadow the Hedgehog."


End file.
